Reading TAG, it struck me were that it was not the kind of thing I'd usually seek out but that I was really enjoying it. It's a fun tale of action/adventure, a mix of fighting and friendship, all rendered in energetic manga style with dazzling colour. The plot follows Micki, castaway on a tropical island and drawn into a sort of long-running Street Fighter/DOA-style fighting tournament that the island hosts.
The charm of the story is that with its vibrant colour and layouts, as it slips between drama and downtime, it invites you to explore the mysterious tropical island setting and meet its varied (and distinctively designed) inhabitants with Micki.
Early on, Micki meets Whickes, who becomes her companion and guide. He's kinda funny and with a mysterious tattoo and sword he clearly has hidden backstory depths, but at least to begin with, he invokes a great deal of pity. This teenage dude has no family or friends, lives in a grotty alleyway, and fights and loses every day.
Now, one of the great things about TAG is that it retains a light tone throughout and moves briskly through the darker moments of the story without being dragged down by them. Plus, once Whickes meets Micki, things do start to improve for him. However I wanted to do some fan art focusing on the pathos of poor Whickes' pitiable situation.
Subsequently, after I'd started planning the piece, a TAG fan art competition was announced - with an ice-cream theme. Since that fit neatly with my original idea, I incorporated it (not with any hope of winning the competition - it just seemed like a nice idea) Anyway, here's the doodle I came up with:
Awwww.
As mentioned, that interpretation is not exactly representative of the real TAG. You should go and have a look at it. There's well over a hundred pages! Read it online! Or get a print copy!